


Taking On Life (ON HIATUS UNTIL 2018)

by edith681



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 10:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10739400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edith681/pseuds/edith681
Summary: When the cops arrived at the door, Powell was confused. But then the cops cut his confusion short when they told him the bad news. There was a huge collision with a truck. Both his parents had died instantly. Now 17 year old Powell Nyht is stuck taking care of his 4 year old sister, Emily.





	Taking On Life (ON HIATUS UNTIL 2018)

When the cops arrived at the door, Powell was confused. But then the cops cut his confusion short when they told him the bad news. There was a huge collision with a truck. Both his parents had died instantly. Now 17 year old Powell Nyht is stuck taking care of his 4 year old sister, Emily.

2 YEARS LATER

Emily hung off the monkey bars, crying,"Powell, look at me!"

Powell, Emily's 19 year old brother, had been taking care of her since 2 years ago when their parents had been in a terrible car accident, from which nobody had survived.

Emily was now six years old, in the first grade at Bakersfield School. She was so sweet. She had made tons of friends, as had Powell. Powell thought about the trauma as an oppurtunity, at least he tried to. Both of them were still trying to move forward and put their life back together. Powell took pretty good care of Emily, with help from his family. Together, Powell and Emily had formed a relationship that nothing could break.

"Powell, look at me!" cried Emily. "Powell! Powell! Look at me! Powell, look at me!"

"I'm looking, I'm looking!" called Powell.

"Watch," said Emily. "Are you watching?"

"Yeah, I'm watching."

Emily and Powell headed home from the park. Powell would try to find a new job tomorrow. He needed to. After losing his last job last week, which he'd had for over a year.

It was Friday night, so Emily had the weekend off school.

She showed Powell a picture she had drawn of the house where her and Powell lived.

"Can we go to McDonalds tonight?" asked Emily.

"No, sorry, Em. Not tonight. Maybe next week. What gave you the idea, anyway?"

"Hayley from my class brought McDonalds today. She gave me some French fries. She's really nice to me. She wants to be president of the world when she grows up."

"I don't think there's such thing as president of the world," said Powell.

"Did Jason come by?"

"Yeah, he did. He dropped off your book."

"Yay! Can you read it to me tonight?"

"Of course I can."

"What's for dinner?"

"Tomato soup and meatloaf."

"I don't like meatloaf."

"Since when?"

"Since now."

As soon as they got in the door, the phone rang.

"Hello?" said Powell.

"Powell," hissed Emily.

"One second," Powell told his sister. "Oh, hi, Greg! Are you still coming next weekend? To Emily's party. Yeah, okay. See you then."

He hung up. "What's up, Em?"

"I'm hungry."

"Dinner will be ready soon."

"But I'm hungry now!"

"Okay, here. Have...an apple."

"I don't like apples."

"But this is a magic apple."

"Really?" Emily looked at it skeptically.

"It will make all your wildest dreams come true."

"Nuh-uh. No such thing as a magic apple."

"You are really smart, you know that?"

"Yeah I know that!" Emily laughed.

"It's that apple or nothing."

Emily put back the red apple and took out a green apple instead. "Maybe this one's magic."

"Well, you take the first bite and we'll see."

"Nuh-uh! You first?"

"Same time."

"Okay."

They both bit into their apples at the same time.

While Emily worked on her home work, Powell made up dinner.

"Powell!" called Emily. "I need help with my homework!"

Powell wiped off his hands on a dishtowel and went to Emily.

"That one," said Emily.

Powell helped explain it to her. "Okay?"

"Got it. It's easy." Emily sniffed the air. "Is something burning?"

"Oh, no, the meatloaf!"

All of a sudden the fire alarms went off.

"No, no!" cried Powell. "Stop that! Be quiet!"

"I hate that noise!" cried Emily. "Powell, do something! Shut it off!"

Powell slipped on some oven mitts and took out the meatloaf, then dropped it because it was too hot. Powell tried to shut off the alarm with a broomstick, but Emily smashed into him as she was trying to get away from the noise. The broomstick broke the alarm.

Powell took a bite of pizza. "Okay, you go first, smarty pants."

Emily smiled. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," said Powell.

"Okay. I dare you to eat a whole hot pepper."

"Okay." Powell opened the jar and put the pepper in his mouth and started chewing. "Hm, not bad."

Then his face turned red and he picked up a bottle of water and drank the whole thing. Emily laughed and laughed.

"Yeah, very funny," squeaked Powell. "Your turn, truth or dare?"

Emily thought. If she picked truth, Powell could ask her a really embarrassing question, but if she picked dare, Powell could think of something bad to get back at her for the hot pepper.

"Dare," she said.

"I dare you to...eat a hot pepper."

Emily shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I'm not gonna."

"You have to, it's truth or dare."

Emily smiled and shook her head.

"Come on."

"No way!" squealed Emily.

"Come on."

"Okay." Emily picked up a pepper and ate it. Then she immediately drank a glass of milk. "Ha! I did it."

"Wow, good for you."

"Hey, wanna play two truths and a lie?"

"I thought you wanted to watch a movie."

"Come on, it's Friday! We have some time left! Come on, pleeeeeeease!"

"Okay, okay. We can play for a little bit. Okay, so how you play is like this. You-"

"I already know how to play. My teacher taught me today at recess."

"Mrs. Hendry?"

"I had nothing else to do."

"Okay, so would you like to go first?"

"Okay."

They played for a while, and then they settled in to watch a movie. Emily went to put on her pyjamas while Powell popped the popcorn.

Powell heard a soft buzzing sound coming from Emily's room.

"What the?" asked Powell. He knocked on Emily's door. "You okay in there?"

"I'm fine, don't come in!" called Emily.

A moment later, she came out wearing her pyjamas and she had a cicada in a jar.

"Where did you get that bug, Emily?" asked Powell.

"He was in my room. I left the window open, he must've flew in."

"Well, I know where that buzzing was coming from."

"His name is Kiki."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Emily, but I don't think you can keep the bug-I mean Kiki."

"But I want to!"

"I'm sorry, Em, but you can't. He really needs to be in his natural habitat. But we can say goodbye to Kiki and set him free outside."

"Okay," said Emily, a little disappointed.

"Come on. We'll let him go on the front porch."

They brought Kiki outside and let him go. Then they went inside and watched 27 Dresses.

Later Powell tucked Emily in and kissed her and hugged her. Then they read Emily's favorite book, Angus and the Ducks.

"Good night, sweetie," said Powell. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"See you in the morning, Powell. I love you."

"Love you too. I'll just be right in the next room, okay?"

"Okay."

They both went to sleep.

The next morning, Emily was up early. She decided to make Powell breakfast in bed. She made two slices of toast, a bowl of cheerios, a glass of orange juice, and two chocolate pop tarts. She brought everything on a tray to Powell.

Powell groaned as he awoke, then saw Emily holding the tray.

"Morning, Powell," she said.

"Morning, Em," muttered Powell. He looked at the clock. "What time is it?"

"Ten in the morning."

Powell's eyes widened. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed. "I have an interview in half an hour."

"You get dressed, I'll get your stuff."

Powell sprayed some axe bodyspray on because he didn't have time to take a shower. Emily grabbed his bag, shoes, and keys for him as Powell quickly felled his hair back and tied his tie.

"How do I look?" asked Powell.

"Like you're gonna ace that interview," said Emily.

"Bag?"

"Check."

"Keys."

"Check."

"Shoes."

Emily handed him his stuff, slipped on her shoes, and they ran out to the car. They quickly got in, and Powell pulled out the driveway.

"Emily, don't forget, you have to be on your best behavior," Powell reminded her.

"I will."

"And please don't say the guy looks like he's bleeding boogers."

"But there was boogers coming out of his nose." Emily giggled.

"Emily," groaned Powell.

"Okay, okay. I'll be on my best behavior."

They quickly drove to the ice cream shop where Powell's interview was and pulled into the driveway. Emily hopped out of the car so quickly that she flung her door open, and before she could catch it, it slammed into the car next to it.

"Oops," said Emily, and gave Powell a worried look.

"Oh, no," moaned Powell, and went to examine the damage. "Well, it's just a little scratch," he said uncertainly. "Maybe nobody will notice."

"We don't have time, Powell," Emily said. "One minute until your interview."

Powell grabbed Emily's hand and they went into the mall and to the ice cream place.

"Ah, Powell, right on time," said the guy at the counter. "I'm the boss. Are you ready for your interview?"

"Yes."

"Who's this?"

"I'm Emily," said Emily quickly.

"What flavour of ice cream do you like?"

"Chocolate."

The man scooped some ice cream in a cup and handed it to Emily.

"I don't have any cash on me," said Powell.

"Don't worry about it, that one's on the house," said the guy. "I'm Mr Matthews, and from the looks of your resume, it looks like you got a job."

Powell broke into a smile. "Really?"

"I told him he was going to get the job," said Emily, full of pride. "Didn't I Powell?"

"I got the job!" cheered Powell.

"You start here next Friday."

Powell's smile quickly faded. "Oh, Friday, I can't. It's Emily's sixth birthday."

"Okay, Saturday it is. And you can bring Emily back anytime you want."

"Yay, Powell!"

"Can I ask you one thing?" asked Mr Matthews.

"Sure," said Powell to his new boss.

"How do you pronounce your last name?"

"It's pronounced Night," replied Emily. "Like in oh holy night."

"Okay. That's an interesting name."

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!" chanted Emily.

Then another guy came in. "Damn, it's hot out there. Hey, mr Matthews, I was coming into the mall and I noticed someone had scratched your car."

"We hit a car on the way in," said Emily. "What does your car look like?"

"It's a red convertible with flames on the sides."

"Yeah, we hit your car."

"Emily," groaned Powell.

"Well, we did. Powell, someone noticed."

"I know," growled Powell.

"Maybe we should hire someone else," said Mr Matthews slowly.

"No, don't," said Emily. "I hit your car, Mr Matthews. Please still hire my brother. He's very responsible. He didn't even take a shower this morning because he didn't wanna be late for the interview this morning. See, he didn't wake up on time."

"Emily," hissed Powell.

"He even ran some red lights," continued Emily. "And last night he told me there was a magic apple so I would eat healthier. And he also told me to be on my best behavior when we were at his interview. He told me not to talk about boogers. He's a man of the law. And he cares about family more than anything else. Please reconsider him for the job."

Mr Matthews looked at Powell for a second, then said," Make sure you shower before you come in next week, and make sure your sister doesn't scratch my car again."

On his way to the video store, Powell saw a girl. She came up to Powell and said," Do you know where the ice cream store is? I'm here for an interview. There's this one spot left that I need to get."

For a second, Powell found himself unable to speak. Then he said," Sorry, they kind of already hired me."

"And they're giving away free ice cream!" added Emily.

"Oh, well I guess I'll just go home, then," said the girl.

"I think American Eagle is hiring," said Powell.

"Really? Thanks," said the girl, and went off.

"Come on, Powell, let's go get some movies," said Emily, tugging on Powell's sleeve. They went to the video store.

When they got home, Powell made Kraft Dinner and they both ate.

"Can we go to the movies today?" asked Emily.

"Didn't we just buy a bunch of movies so we could watch them?" asked Powell with a laugh.

"I wanna go to the movies!" sang Emily.

"Okay. What do you want to see?"

"I don't know. What's playing?"

"Nothing you'd like, I think."

"Oh. Let's watch the Lion King, then."

They made popcorn and watched the Lion King. Emily fell asleep halfway through.

 

 

CHAPTER 2

On Monday morning, Powell was trying to get Emily ready for school.

"Do you have all your invitations?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Emily.

"Are you sure?"

"Yup. Five of them, all ready to be handed out to my friends."

"Okay. We'll run by Tim Hortons on our way there. You want a donut?"

"Yes."

On the way to school, they both got donuts. Then Powell dropped Emily off at school.

"See you at 3," said Powell. "Have a great day, okay?"

"Bye Powell!"

Then Powell drove home and worked on his new book for about an hour. He was almost finished. He only had about five chapters left.

Meanwhile, Emily was at school. She went to class and worked on her reading and writing. Then she went to lunch, during which she and her five buddies all sat together. In the classroom during lunch, the teacher let them move their desks into groups, as long as they moved them back afterwards. It was always the same groups.

Emily gave invitations to her five friends: Hayley, Charlotte, Jake, and the twins, Kyle and Lyle.

They all talked about what they had done over the weekend, then it was time to get back to work. They all worked until the end of the day.

Powell came to pick up Emily, and drove her home. He attempted to make dinner that night, and this time it was fries and burgers. He didn't burn anything.

That night, Jake and Hayley called to RSVP about the party.

Emily and Powell played Scrabble after dinner.

Emily was winning. Even though she knew she wasn't aloud to put down names, she put down Powell as a word.

Then Powell put down Emily as a word.

Around seven, the phone rang.

It was Powell's friend, Jacob. Powell took the call in the next room.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hi," said Jacob. "What's up?"

"I don't know. Dude, you're the one who called me, okay?"

"Look, next year I'm leaving for college. You have gotten acceptance letters to three different schools."

"Oh, not this again," muttered Powell.

"Yes, this again. You have got to start doing something with your life! Okay? You can't just sit around and eat candy and write all day."

"That is my job."

"You know what I mean! You need this college education. It'll look good on your resume when you apply for a job at the next closest flea market."

"Hey, I resent that, Jake! I have never worked in a flea market in my life, okay?"

"Dude, chill. I'm just saying, even though Emily is really important in your life right now, you can't dedicate every waking minute to her. Just leave her with her grandparents and come to college with me. I could use a pal so I don't end up with some weirdo roommate. All I'm saying is, at least come look at the school with me."

"Look, me and Emily have a special bond that you apparently don't understand. Okay, you're not gunna guilt me into going to school with you. I can't, I have Emily. I am doing something with my life. The most important thing ever. Okay? I think you're the one missing out."

Then he hung up.

When he went back to sit down with Emily, it turned out she had heard the whole conversation.

"Powell," she said. "Am I holding you back?"

"Oh, Em, of course not! Don't ever think that!"

"I think you should go to college. I wouldn't mind staying with somebody for a while. Maybe I can stay with Jason."

"I'm not going to college, Em. Maybe when you're a bit older. But right now, you're my first priority, okay? You're not holding me back. I want to stay here with you. Understand?"

"Yeah, okay, Pow."

He ruffled her hair.

Then they went to the park.

Powell went on the seesaw with Emily. They messed around for a bit.

Powell pushed Emily up on the seesaw.

"Mr Brown, let me down!" squealed Emily.

"Only if you say please," said Powell.

"Mr Brown, please let me down."

Powell let his sister down.

The next day, Emily got a new student in her class. Her name was Victoria. Emily and her group invited Victoria to sit with them at lunch, which made her feel welcome.

Finally the day of the party came. Emily and Powell went shopping to get everything they needed for the party. Emily really wanted to push the cart, but she wasn't tall enough, so Powell pushed it.

Emily walked beside Powell, and sang a little song. "Let's get some paper plates and cups and stuff," suggested Powell. "That way we don't have to waste all sorts of dishes, and make a big mess."

"Can we get dishes with The Lion King on them?" asked Emily.

"Well, I don't know that they have dishes with the Lion King on them, but how about dishes with Cinderella on them?"

"Okay, that sounds good. Can we also buy ice cream?"

"Of course, it's your birthday!"

"Yay! I can't wait."

"Well, the good news is that you only have to wait a couple of hours. We're gonna finish up here, then bake the cake, and by that time your friends should start arriving."

Emily smiled at her brother and giggled. Then she grabbed some paper cups, plates and napkins, putting them in the cart as they went through the aisle.

"Did you get Funzy the clown?" asked Emily suddenly.

"Of course I did, Em!" said Powell. "I made the reservation weeks ago. I'm on top of things, okay?"

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure, because I told my friends last week that Funzy was coming, and they all really wanna see him!"

"Don't worry, Funzy's coming," Powell assured her.

Emily started singing a song about Funzy the clown. Some people started looking at them funny. Obviously they had never known the joy of having Funzy the clown at their sixth birthday party.

Greg texted Powell numerous times during the grocery shopping trip, then they ran into one of Emily's friends. Jake was with his mother. "Hi, Emily," he said. "Me and my mom just stopped by here to get some groceries, and also to pick up something for your birthday."

"No kidding! Me and Powell are also shopping for my birthday. We're picking up some stuff for the cake. We're gonna have games and loot bags and stuff. It's gonna be really fun!"

"I know, I can hardly wait! We gotta go now, but we'll see you at the party."

"Okay."

When they were gone, Powell muttered, "No last minute present like a box of cookies."

They moved on to the baking aisle, and selected the stuff that Emily wanted and needed for the cake. Then they bought all the small stuff, like icing, napkins, straws, sprinkles, and the prizes for the loot bags. Powell also bought a flower maker because he knew Emily wanted icing flowers on her cake. The ice cream was the last thing they bought.

Greg, Emily's 22 year old cousin, was coming to the party as well. He was the only one in the family who lived close enough to actually come to the party. Most of the rest of the family were scattered across the rest of the world.

Then Powell and Emily went home. In the car they played 20 questions. When they got home they put the groceries away, then Powell started getting out ingredients for the cake. He reached for the flour.

"I can get it," said Emily. "I'm tall enough to reach!"

"You sure, Em?"

"I'm sure."

Emily reached up to get the flour. She just grabbed the bag, and pulled. The next thing she knew, the whole bag had fallen on her, and both her and the floor were covered in flour. Emily sneezed a bunch of times. Powell brushed most of the flour off his sister, and then swept the floor while Emily was in the shower. When she got out, the cake was in the oven and was smelling incredible.

"You okay, Emily? Feeling better?" asked Powell.

"I'm good, Powell," giggled Emily. "That was super funny!"

"Okay, the guests will be arriving soon. Run into your room and get changed, okay?"

Emily went to get changed.

CHAPTER 3

Kyle and Lyle arrived first, then Jake, then Greg, and then the rest of the kids. Powell hung up their jackets in the closet. The kids were really excited to be there.

The first thing Jake said was, "When is Funzy coming?"

"Around one, soon after lunch," replied Powell.

"This is gonna be great!" said Kyle. "When do we get cake?"

"I smell it!" cried Jake. "It's in the kitchen!"

"Let's go get it!" cried Kyle.

"You shouldn't do that," said Powell. "It's still cooling."

"Let's play hangman," suggested Powell.

"Okay," said Hayley.

So they all played hangman. Most of the kids guessed the puzzle before Powell finished it. After about a half hour the kids sat down and watched a movie. They all watched the Lion King.

Then it was time for cake. Powell brought the cake in and everybody started singing:

"Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Emily

Happy birthday to you!"

"And many more!" sang her friends.

"Yay!" said Emily. "Cut the cake, Powell!"

"Okay, okay." Powell cut the cake and everybody started arguing about what piece they wanted.

After they had the cake, it was almost one. Everyone was really excited about seeing Funzy. Emily was seated on Powell's lap in the audience. At five after one Funzy still hadn't arrived. Everyone started talking quietly.

"Emily," said Jake. "Where's Funzy?"

"I don't know!" said Emily. "Powell, you said he'd be here!"

Then the phone rang. The man on the other end said, "I'm sorry, but Funzy has the flu. He can't come to any parties. Your refund will come through the mail." The man did sound sorry.

Powell had to go announce the news to the kids. Then he got a better idea. He went up to the bathroom and put on some makeup and his clown nose from Halloween when he was ten years old.

Then he came out and said, "Hey, kids! I'm Smiley the clown!" in a really funny voice. The kids smiled. They seemed to cheer up almost immediately. Powell continued. "I have something for you, little girl," he pointed to Hayley. Then he pretended to check his pockets. "Uh-oh! Where could it be?" Then he went over to Hayley and pretended to pull it out from behind her ear. "Here it is!" He handed her a quarter. The kids laughed. "Now, I have a friend I'd like you to meet," said Smiley. "Hang on, he's in my hat." Powell took the hat off his head and pretended to dig around in it. Things fell out. "I know he's somewhere in here. Where are you, Dodgy?" He held the hat up to his face. A bunch of water poured out of the hat and onto his face. Everyone cracked up. "What a mess!" said Powell. "I think I'm going to need a towel." He reached into his mouth and pulled out a towel. Then he rubbed his hair with it. "Wait a second. There's something in this towel." He reached behind the towel and pulled out a bunch of flowers. Then he handed them to Kyle. Then he dug in his hat again. "Dodgy, come out!" he called into the hat. A rabbit hopped out. "Everyone, welcome Dodgy the dancing rabbit!" cried Powell in his clown voice. The dancing rabbit did the can-can. Then Powell pulled his hand out, and it was covered with some brown, melting stuff. "Dodgy, did you poop in my hat?" he asked. Then he tasted it. Most of the kids cried "Ew!" and covered their eyes. Then Powell said, "Wait, that's not poop. It's chocolate!" He took out a bunch of candy bars and threw them out to the kids, who cried,"YAY!"

Then it was time to open presents. Emily got some new movies and games.

Then they all played scrabble and watched another movie, and they all played tug of war, girls vs boys. The boys won.

Everyone got loot bags at the end.

By the time the party was over, it was four in the afternoon and all the kids went home. Greg also had to leave because he had a dentist's appointment. Powell was pretty tired, but Emily was still full of birthday energy.

"Hey, Emily," said Powell. "Come here a second."

"Yeah?" asked Emily.

"What do you do if an elephant eats you?"

"Die?"

Powell laughed. "You jump up and down until you're all pooped out."

"Oh, no, an elephant ate us! Jump with me, Powell! Quick, before we go into his stomach!"

Emily jumped and jumped and jumped. "Powell, quick! Jump, come on."

"Okay." Powell jumped with Emily.

Finally Emily said, "Okay, we're all pooped out now."

"Thank god," sighed Powell.

"Uh oh Powell! The floor is made of lava. Don't let your feet touch the floor or you'll burn up."

Emily started putting down pillows, and her and Powell walked around on pillows for a bit.

Finally Emily fell asleep on the couch.

Powell stared at her for a while, watching her sleep. Soon he fell asleep too, but not before making a decision.

THE NEXT DAY

"Emily?" whispered Powell. "Emily!"

"Go away, Powell, I'm sleeping," muttered Emily.

"But Emily, don't you want to come for a walk with me?"

"Fine," said Emily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Hey, Powell, don't you still have that lottery ticket sitting around somewhere that you have to scratch?"

"Oh, yeah, that's right." Powell dug into his pocket and dug out the slightly crumpled lottery ticket.

"I'll be right back," he said. Emily turned on the television and was looking for something to watch when suddenly she heard Powell scream. She was going to ignore it, but then Powell came cartwheeling into the room. Emily hadn't seen her brother do a cartwheel since before their parents died.

"Emily, we're going out for lunch!" he announced.

"Why?" asked Emily.

"Because we just won the lottery!"

The first thing they did was to call everyone they knew. Powell called friends and family, and Emily called all her friends. They'd just won $50,000,000! They wanted everyone they knew to know.

"We're gonna be living the high life from now on, Em!" said Powell with a huge smile on his face.

Emily danced and sang.

It was a terrific moment in the Nyht family household!

"Where do you want to go out for breakfast, Emily?" asked Powell.

"Everywhere!" cried Emily.

Powell called the ice cream store and told them he wasn't coming into work-he'd just struck gold! Then they went to turn in the ticket and collect the prize money. Powell put the money in the bank. Then they went to Golden Griddle for breakfast.

Emily ordered all the pancakes she wanted, and they talked about how they'd struck it rich.

Then Powell decided they should go on a road trip. They packed their bags as soon as they got home.

They rented a car for two weeks of vacation, which was plenty of time for them to take a long break from everything they had been doing before and to start their new life as millionaires.

"Where should we go, Emily?" asked Powell.

"Anywhere we want!" cried Emily excitedly.

"Okay, well, climb in and we'll go!"

They both got in and drove down the road with no destination.

**neu=before July 20**


End file.
